# Issues	with	W

ood &	P ellet StoveE fficiency

John Ack erly President 

### A minimum efficiency s ta ndar d will help consumer s and indus try

National E ducational F orum on the R esiden tial Wo od Heater NSPS, Minneapolis, MN Nov ember 8, 2012

# Alliance fo r	Green	Heat
 501c3 nonpr ofit funded by fo undations & gr an ts  A national v oice for wood heat consumer s  Wo rk for mor e incen tives fo r the cleanes t & mos t efficient biomass heater s  Call on gov ernmen t t o pr ovide R&D funding fo r ultr a - clean “ne xt g ener ation” s toves  Wo rk for mor e c ommon - sense re gulation of wood s toves, including  No new ins ta lls of unqualified out door boiler s  No new ins ta lls of uncertified stove s in densely populated ar eas

# Eve ry Gram	of	PM	Matters
 If neighborhoods lik e this ar e to ha ve 10
– 20 pellet s toves, the dif fe rence between 3 gr ams and 1 gr am is huge. If indus try and the renewable energy community want more widespread deployment of pellet s toves, we need them to be be consis tently and significantly cleaner than wood s toves.
 EP A should pr opose 2.5 gr/ hr in the NSPS and pr opose as an alternative going to 1.5 sever al year s later

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# Wo od	St ove s	Must	be	P art	of Ener gy	A udits

BPI Solid Fuel W orking Gr oup Alliance fo r Gr een Heat
– Chair EP A National Fir eplace Institut e Chimney Safety Institut e of America Wa shington St ate Dept. E cology Hearth, Pa tio BBQ Association  DOE funded pr ogr ams ha ve resulted in millions residential energy audits that result ed in upgr ading hundreds of thousands of furnaces and boiler s.  Wo od st oves ha ve been c omplet ely le ft out, indic ating a widespread lack of in te rest in government about this t echnology , and its impacts.

# The Grandf

ather	of	the	US	W

ood	Stove Chose	Viewing the	Fire	Over	Efficiency  271 year s ago , in 1741, Ben Fr anklin assembled a s tove fa r less efficient and dirtier than man y other s tove s on the mark et. Somehow

, it is still hailed as a tr emendous adv ance in w ood burning.  It undermined the deploymen t and dev elopmen t of far mor e efficient stove designs.  Wh y? Anglo cultur e, led by scores of opinion leader s, believ ed an open fir e w as mor e civiliz ed than the closed “ Germanic” stove s.

## 271 Ye ars	Later

, Low	Efficiency Outdoor Wo od	Heaters Plague	our	Countryside Wisc onsin:	W ood smok e PM2.5 capital	of	the	US

# What ar e	the	efficiency challenges?

Mos t w ood and pellet s tove manufactur er s do not r eport re liable efficiency number s

Ther e are no national minimum efficiency performance sta ndar ds (MEPS) fo r w ood and pellet s toves

Fuel calculator s use a wide r ange of efficiency assumptions with little documentation.

The IRS appr oved sidetr acking B415 and using LHV

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Ther e is no Ener gySt ar pr ogr am for w ood or pellet s toves **?**

# Minimum Efficiency Pe rf ormance Standar ds ar e	Widely	Accepted

 MEPS ar e widely support ed by the g ener al public  Man y c onsumer s buy appliances based on pur chase price and do not c onsider long t erm fuel c os ts  MEPS sa ve consumer s billions each year in reduced fuel c os ts  MEPS will bolst er the reput ation of hearth appliances, giving co nsumer s c onfidence that they are all reasonably efficient  MEPS will help c onser ve wood and pellets, a v aluable resour ce  MEPS ar e especially import an t for HV AC s ystems as annual fuel c os ts c an e xc eed pur chase price in sever al year s  MEPS will ultimat ely even help c onsumer s know that a sec ond hand stove is efficient, even when hang t ag is long gone  MEPS do not necessarily r aise price of appliances

# Minimum Efficiency Standar ds (MEPS) ar e	rapidly	pr olif erating

# Energy	Use	&	Price	Decline	as Efficiency Rises

# Efficiency of	wood	appliances As	tested at	High Heating Value	(HHV)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Pellet Catalytic Non-catalytic Best Known Default (EPA) Average Worst Known

# Out	of	the	top	24	pellet	stove companies re tailing	in	the	U .S. The following is based on a r eview of manufactur er websites:  7 lis te d some s tove efficiencies  7 mak e gener al e fficiency claims, i.e. “ our stove s achiev e up to 77% efficiency ”  10 do not men tion an y efficiency number s  None specified LHV or HHV , that we saw

# Pe llet	StoveAdve rtising
- Emissions Of the t op 24 pellet s tove companies re ta iling in the US,
 16 do not lis t their emissions  8 pr ovide emissions number s in gr ams per hour  This ma y indicate that the mark et does not easily enable consumer s to buy cleaner s toves, or a vo id dirtier ones.  This ma y indicate consumer s do not know about or car e enough about emissions.

# Efficiency Confusion Re igns and No	One Tr ies	to	Dispel	it
Which websit e e xplains that stoves today are usually advertised using LHV and report e fficiency in an y number of wa ys , usually not B415? o HPBA o EP A o NE SCA UM o WE ST AR o NY SERD A o Dept. of E co logy

, WA o Alliance for Green Heat Answer : None of the above. None of these institutions at te mpts to e xplain how manufacturer s advertise e fficiency

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# Whose	Role	is	it	to	Pr otect the Consumer?  Last week’ s Headlines: “Hyundai /Kia t o Corr ect Over stated MPG Claims as R esult of EP A In vestig ation”  How man y c onsumer s c oun te d on g etting a 75% e fficient stove with the IR S t ax credit? How man y actually got a 75% LHV st ove?  “T he IR S sponsor ed w ood stove tax credit progr am allows manufactur er s to use a differ en t method of determining efficiency. IR S allows labor atories to use gr ea te r fle xibility in determining the thermal efficiency rat ing for tax cr edit purposes .” htt p://www .combustionportal.or g/ woodstoves.cfm

# Fu el Calculators in	Disarray

 EP A links to a calculator that doesn’t use EP

A default efficiencies  Maine appear s to use LHV figur e for pellet boiler s  US F or es t Service uses ex tr emely high number s  Man y e xa gg er ate pellet efficiencies **Calculator Name**  **EP**

**A Certified**  **Non -**  **cat Pe**  **llet**

**Stove**

**EP A default**  **63% 78%**  **Actual average –**  **OMNI 72%**  **68% Actual average**  **– Ferguson**  **71%**

EIA 72% 78% Hearth.com 70% 70% HBP A 70% 78% Building Green.com 70% 80%
Maine 63% 80% PFI 60% 80% Oregon Extension 60% 80% Jotul 70% 70% US Forest Service 77% 83% **Range 60**  **– 77%**  **70 –**  **83%**

# What	Consumers Need	to Kno w:	P ellet	Stove s **Myth #1: Adv**  **ertised ef** **ficiency number**  **s can be re**  **lied on.**   Adv ertised efficiency number s ar e calculated in man y dif fe re nt w ay s and ar e not r eliable. They ar e almos t alw ay s in LHV

, ev en though EP

A uses HHV

. W e urge consumer s to mak e sur e s tove is over 70% HHV or 80% LHV using the B415 method. 

### Myth #2: **Pe lle**  **t stoves**  **te nd**  **to be mor e e**  **fficien t**  **than wood s toves.**   Man y pellet s tove s ar e fuel

- guzzler s with low efficiency number s. Expected sa vings ma y never materializ e.

# Solutions

– Long Te rm
 Minimum efficiency r equir emen t fo r biomass heater s  An Energy St ar - lik e pr ogr am that includes both emissions and efficiency

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# Solutions

– Short	T

erm
 HPBA should ur ge all member s to use B415 and tell consumer s if they ar e using HHV or LHV  St ak eholder s should tak e a position on e xt ension of tax cr edit and ur ge Congr ess to r equir e B415 efficiency test  Ca ta lytic St ove Caucus re ques t fuel calculator s to add default efficiency for cat stove s  EP A should ur ge manufactur er s to send B415 efficiency number s to add to EP

A lis t of certified s tove s  Manufactur er s who pr ovide B415 efficiencies could be re cogniz ed on the EP

A lis t  EP A & States should educate consumer s on stove efficiency and warn about misleading adv ertisemen ts

# Thank y ou! John Ack erly www .fo rg re enhea t.org john@forgr eenhea t.org 301

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